Wall Street et al.
BY ZAIN MURDOCK
Oh America, you bad bitch
I picked the cotton that made you rich
-Kendrick Lamar, “For Free? (Interlude)”
new York was once new Amsterdam
and new Amsterdam once had 11 men—then
lifetimes later spawned the empire city
and the Black men & Red men built Wall Street
and the Black Women & Red Women—
and now, white men in cotton ties & gold cufflinks
sip their coffees on the 3 and 4,
riding through the underground,
mangling its ghosts.
exit: Lexington Ave., past that mosaic map of
new Amsterdam before new York
enter: me, the toe of Black heels
pressing damn ma-s into pavement before
fuck you bitch, you ain’t that bad anyway;
a white Woman with her tiffany crossbody
leverages the scene, says:
i’ll get my uncle sam to fuck you up
and my Black heels make like crossing graves
i’m headed down Broadway & Nothing.